About the Oratory

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Oratory Church Restoration Fund

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Since its foundation, the Oratory has been renowned for the beauty of its churches and the dignity of its liturgy. When St. Philip acquired the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, he insisted that the designs for its rebuilding should be drawn up without regard to financial restrictions, and declared: “I have made a bargain with the Madonna not to die until the church is roofed in.” He also valued music as a powerful means of raising our hearts to God. The Oratory became one of the great centres of sacred music in Rome. Composers such as Palestrina, Victoria and Animuccia, were all closely connected with the Oratory.